Olympic stars shine bright on the Blue Oval

Fans pack Drake for the London Games Rematch Series

Published 10:57 PM CDT Apr 26, 2013

DES MOINES, Iowa -

(Drake Sports Information) The Friday session of the 104th Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee saw records shattered on and off of the track all day. Four world-leading marks for the 2013 season were set while four Drake Relays records were broken and two were tied.

Drake Stadium was filled all day as both the Friday day session and Hy-Vee Night at the Relays produced session attendance records of 12,378 and 11,827 for the respective sessions.

The fans welcomed sunshine and mild temperatures ranging in the low 60s for most of the day with a strong wind of 7-to-15 miles per hour blowing from the south.

Friday night was the inaugural Hy-Vee Night at the Relays and introduced the London Games Rematch Series to the world of track and field. Seven events, four on the track and three in the field, were held to pit 2012 Olympians and the best athletes in the world against each other.

World-leading marks were set in the women’s pole vault, long jump and 1,500 meters as well as the men’s 400-meter hurdles.

Olympic silver medalist Michael Tinsley of the U.S. lowered his own world-leading time in winning the London Games Rematch of the 400-meter hurdles. Tinsley shot past Johnny Dutch after they cleared the final hurdle to win in 48.55. His previous best had been 48.77 at the Kansas Relays last weekend. Dutch, the 2010 NCAA champion at South Carolina, finished second in 48.73 and Olympic bronze medalist Javier Culson of Puerto Rico, a two-time Drake Relays champion, took third in 49.33. Culson finished last season ranked No. 1 in the world, while Tinsley was ranked fourth. Drake coaches LaRon Bennett and Jon DeGrave also competed in the event.

Iowa native Jenny Simpson delighted the big crowd in winning the London Games Rematch in the women's 1,500 meters. Simpson ran 4:03.85 to log the fastest time in the world this year and break the Drake Relays invitational record. The old Relays record was 4:05.13 by Suzy Favor Hamilton in 2000. That time also had been the Drake Stadium record.

It was the third straight victory in the Drake Relays invitational 1,500 meters for Simpson, who was born in Webster City, Iowa. Canadian Olympian Sheila Reid, a former Villanova star, was second in 4:07.92, the third fastest time in the world this year. Kate Grace, who won the Grand Blue Mile in downtown Des Moines on Tuesday night, was third in 4:08.24, which ranks No. 4 in the world. Mary Cain, the 16-year-old sensation from Bronxville, New York, set a national high school record with her sixth-place time of 4:10.77.

Luguelin Santos, the 19-year-old sprinting phenom from the Dominican Republic, beat a strong field that included Drake Relays veteran Jeremy Wariner and to win the London Games Rematch in the 400. Santos, the London Games silver medalist, took control over the final 200 meters to win in 44.74. Wariner, the U.S. indoor champion this year and a new Drake Relays Hall of Fame inductee, was second in 45.35.

Dusty Jonas matched the second best mark in the world this year when he won the London Games Rematch high jump at 7-7. Jones matched the Drake Relays invitational record he tied in winning the event in 2011. Brian Brown, the Drake Relays director, first set that record in 1997.

Olympic silver medalist Yarisley Silva of Cuba soared to a Drake Relays record in winning the London Games Rematch pole vault. Silva cleared 15-11, the best jump in the world this year, to break the Relays record of 15-3 set last year by Jenn Suhr. Suhr, the London Games gold medalist, finished second at 15-2.25. It was the second Drake Relays victory for the week for Silva, who won the Pole Vault in the Mall on Wednesday night.

Olympic gold medalist Brittney Reese jumped 22-9.25, the best jump in the world this year, to win the London Games Rematch long jump. Reese outdueled Olympic silver medalist Janay DeLoach for her third Drake Relays title. Reese also won in 2007 and 2008 while competing for Mississippi. DeLoach was second at 22-8.5 and Whitney Gipson, fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer, was third in 20-11.75.

The Blue Oval at Drake Stadium is turning into victory lane for hurdler Andrew Riley. The Jamaican speedster beat a loaded field -- six of the top eight in the world rankings -- to win the London Games Rematch in the 110 hurdles in 13.43 seconds. Running in lane one, Riley bolted quickly into the lead and stayed there in gaining his third victory at Drake Stadium in the last 10 months. Riley, then running for Illinois, won the 100 and 110 hurdles -- the first athlete to complete that double -- at the NCAA championships at Drake last June. Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Aries Merritt was second in 13.48, while Olympian Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados was third in 13.55. Olympic silver medalist Jason Richardson was disqualified after false starting. The 2012 bronze medalist, Hansle Parchment of Jamaica, was last in 14.33.

Oklahoma's Tia Brooks continued her domination of the university-college women's shot put. Brooks won the event for the third straight year and broke her own meet record, throwing 60-11.25. She set the old mark of 60-.25 last year. Brooks was last year's NCAA champion at Drake Stadium and has won the last two NCAA indoor titles. She's also the national collegiate indoor record holder.

A strong run wasn't quite enough to give Dowling Catholic's Jason Thomas sole possession of the Drake Relays record in the high school boys 800 meters. Thomas finished in 1:55.18 to tie the record set last year by Neil Flattery of Fort Dodge St. Edmond. He outran Timauntay Jones of Cedar Rapids Jefferson, who took second in 1:56.01. Thomas, the Class 4A state cross country champion last fall, will be the favorite in the 1600 meters on Saturday. He has run a 4:12.69 this year, which stands second on the all-time list.

Lincoln won both the men's and women's races in the college division 4x200-meter relay. The women, anchored by Yanique Ellington, won in 1:35.67 for their fourth victory in the last five years. Their time was the third fastest in the event. The men won in 1:35.67 after Minnesota State, which crossed the finish line first, was disqualified for passing out of the zone. It also was the fourth victory in five years for the men.

A come-from-behind stretch run by Josh Evans gave Linn-Mars its first Drake Relays victory in the boys sprint medley relay. Linn-Mar finished in 3:31.31 as Evans took the Lions from fifth to first in the final 100 meters. Linn-Mar had just the eighth best qualifying time coming in. The Lions ran more than five seconds faster today. Iowa City High was second in 3:32.28.

Linn-Mar got its second victory of the day when Perrion Scott anchored the Lions to a win in the high school boys 4x200-meter relay. Scott surged into the lead in lane two to give his team the victory in 1:28.81. Scott also ran on the winning sprint medley relay team earlier today. The victories were the first for the Lions in those events.

Alexis Conaway of MOC-Floyd Valley cleared 5-8 to win the high school girls high jump for the second straight year. It was the fourth championship at Drake Stadium for Conaway, who has won the last two Class 3A state championships. Kasey Reuter of Hinton was second at 5-5.

After an impressive showing at last year's Drake Relays, the Des Moines Roosevelt girls are off to a good start this year. The Riders finished 1-2 in the 100, Agnes Sayeh winning in 12.56 and Jalynn Roberts-Lewis finishing second in 12.61. Roberts-Lewis won the long jump on Thursday. It was the third straight victory for Roosevelt in the event which alumni Erin Hawkins won in 2011 and 2012.

With Sayeh anchoring, the Roughriders won the high school girls sprint medley relay for the second straight year and fourth time overall.

The Riders ran 1:47.98 to win easily. Urbandale was second in 1:48.70 and Iowa City High third in 1:48.92. Roosevelt also won the sprint medley in 1984 and 1985, when current Drake coach Natasha Kaiser-Brown ran the anchor. Sayeh, a senior, finished up for a young team. Freshman Tyanna Whitaker led off and was followed by freshman Briyana Carter and sophomore Teanna Lewis.

West Des Moines Valley's Lydia Saggau passed Jasmine Staebler of Clayton Ridge in the final turn, then held on to win the high school girls 800 meters for the second straight year. Saggau leaned at the finish and sprawled onto the track to edge Staebler by .01 seconds. Saggau's time of 2:11.20 moves her to 11th on the state's all-time list. Staebler is now 12th.

A youthful Georgia team came out of the first heat to win the university women's 4x200-meter relay for the first time since 2003. The Bulldogs' unit of Briana Vaughn, Shaunae Miller, Rashan Brown and Quintunya Chapman finished in 1:34.01. Chapman is a sophomore. The others are freshmen. Nevada was second in 1:37.21.

Sophomore Nick Vena led a 1-2-3 finish by Georgia in the university-college men's shot put. Vena threw 62-1/2 to for the victory, teammate Ashinia Miller, a freshman, was second in 61-10.25 and the Bulldogs' Caleb Whitener threw 60-9.5 for third. Vena was a high school sensation in New Jersey and transferred to Georgia after a year at Virginia, where he was the ACC champion in the shot put and discus. In high school, he had a national record 96 throws over 70 feet. Only Michael Carter and Brent Noon threw farther that Vena outdoors as high school athletes.

Saturday’s action will conclude events on the track for the 2013 Drake Relays. There will be 53 finals and six more London Games Rematches with clear skies and hospitable weather expected. The 2013 Drake Relays will conclude on Sunday morning with the Hy-Vee Road Races which includes a 6k, 10k and half marathon that all finish inside historic Drake Stadium.

-DRAKE-

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